Katherine Johnson (1918 - )

Katherine Coleman Goble Johnson is an African-American mathematician whose calculations of orbital mechanics as a NASA employee were critical to the success of the first and subsequent U.S. manned spaceflights. During her 35-year career at NASA and its predecessor, she earned a reputation for mastering complex manual calculations and helped the space agency pioneer the use of computers to perform the tasks. source: Wikipedia

Known for
Johnson's work included calculating trajectories, launch windows and emergency return paths for Project Mercury spaceflights, including those of astronauts Alan Shepard, the first American in space, and John Glenn, the first American in orbit, and rendezvous paths for the Apollo lunar lander and command module on flights to the Moon.

Her calculations were also essential to the beginning of the Space Shuttle program, and she worked on plans for a mission to Mars.

Find more
Wikipedia Hidden Figures : The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race (2016) by Margot Lee Shetterly, highlights the work of four women: Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Christine Darden Hidden Figures : The Untold True Story of Four African-American Women Who Helped Launch Our Nation into Space (2016), young-adult version of Shetterly's book Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race (2018) by Margot Lee Shetterly, Winifred Conkling, Laura Freeman (illustrator), illustrated young-reader version of Shetterly's book

Works based on
Biographical drama film Hidden Figures (2016), based on Shetterly's book

Mary Robinette Kowal's "Lady Astronaut" alt-historical fiction series, The Calculating Stars (2018), The Fated Sky (2018), The Relentless Moon (expected in 2020), and The Derivative Base (expected in 2022), include characters based on Black American calculators and test pilots.